The 2008 law that created FHFA restricts who can be appointed as the agency’s “acting director.” Under the law, President Barack Obama would have to choose among three deputy directors at FHFA, two of whom were hand-picked by DeMarco. And the third? It’s DeMarco himself, who remains FHFA’s deputy director for housing mission and goals.

Obviously it’s impossible to know whether the two deputy directors picked by DeMarco — Jon Greenlee and Stephen Cross — oppose principal reduction to the degree their boss does. But given the staff analysis FHFA released yesterday, the opposition to principal write-downs at Fannie and Freddie extends beyond the top boss.